Dr Carrie Burrows

.Ketosis is a word you hear a lot when people talk about a Ketogenic Diet. Recently I wrote an article about Ketosis and I wanted to expand on that one with this post.

Your body typically gets its fuel from dietary carbohydrates. Foods like rice, bread, pasta, and other grains, along with fruit, sugars, and vegetables.

When carbohydrates, specifically starches and sugars enter your body they’re broken down into glucose. That is what your body will go to first for energy.

The hormone insulin then steps in to remove glucose from the bloodstream. Your body will use it for energy or store unused leftovers as fat.

Glucose that isn’t immediately used as fuel will be sent to the liver and muscles to be stored as glycogen. When you have unused glycogen in your muscles that doesn’t get processed through exercise or energy expenditure will be stored as body fat. Think about it as a ‘rainy day reserve’.

The problem is most of us never get to those reserves.

For people with a carb sensitivity or those with insulin resistance it’s a grim outlook that can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes…

High carb diet = high glucose in the blood = high insulin = high amounts of body fat

Lipolysis And Ketosis

An alternative source of fuel for the body is its own body fat, this process is triggered when the intake of carbs is limited, and their sources controlled. Your body enters a state called lipolysis. Lipolysis is the most efficient biochemical pathway to weight loss. It’s a scientifically proven alternative to your body using or needing glucose for energy.

Lipolysis occurs as the body begins to burn it’s own fat stores for energy instead of dietary carbohydrates. The by-products of this fat burning process are ketones and so ketosis is the secondary process of lipolysis.

When you restrict, lower or eliminate carbs, your body is forced to use its fat stores for fuel. This literally turns your body into a fat burning machine. Ketones are the byproducts of ketosis and provide fuel for the body.

The only true exception to the body not needing glucose for fuel is ketones. Ketosis not only provides adequate energy for the cells within the body, it also fuels the brain and other organs.

The same as glucose from carbs does BUT, unlike what may occur during the use of glucose, ketosis does not store fat. It actually allows the body to burn stored fat for fuel.

Get rid of stored fat and you lose weight… simple right?

This is the reason that low carb diets are so popular and have allowed thousands of people to lose weight and keep it off.

Low Carb Diets

There are cases where doctors will induce ketosis to medically intervene for various conditions, like epilepsy and diabetes. This involves a patient being placed on a low carb diet, such as the Ketogenic diet to increase fat and protein intake to provide fuel for energy, while reducing carb intake.

Ketosis kicks in when carb consumption from all sources is limited to less than 50 grams per day.

The ketogenic diet and the Atkins diet are two of the most popular strict carb intake plans.

One of the greatest benefits of low carb diets and using fat for fuel is that this type of eating greatly regulates your appetite There is no starvation or out of control hunger and erratic cravings become a thing of the past.

One of the reasons for this is that carbohydrates trigger blood sugar spikes that can wreak havoc on hunger and cravings.

A study by the Academic Department of Surgery, Consultation, and Training Center at the Faculty of Medicine located at Kuwait University put it to the test. They took 83 obese patients (39 men, 44 women) and over 24 weeks studied the results of a low carb diet.

The subjects were given carbohydrates in the form of green vegetables, and salad. In the end, the subject’s glucose levels, cholesterol levels, weight, and BMI numbers all fell.

Low Carb Wins Over Low Fat

The ketogenic diet has been around for decades, and while the medical community has long believed that a diet high in fats would cause weight gain and increase the risk of heart disease.

Thankfully more attention has been put in to this false belief and many studies and randomized trials have shown low carb to actually be more effective. Not only the amount of weight lost, but in reducing markers and risk factors for heart disease.

Several experts now advise that the public should be more mindful of their carb intake versus their fat intake. Obesity rates increased during the time that experts told us to decrease fat intake and increase carb intake.

The Flexible Keto System For Weight Loss

The Flexible Keto System is unlike any other ketogenic diet because it is designed for you. Some keto plans are tough to stick with. The require constant measuring and counting to ensure that you stay in a state of ketosis.

The reality is it doesn’t need to be that hard. The Flexible Keto System proves that by adjusting how you’re taught about food and nutrition you make keto fit your lifestyle, not your lifestyle fitting a diet.